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When Worlds Collide

By

Anne Midgette

Updated May 23, 1997 12:01 a.m. ET

Schwetzingen, Germany

The pink facade of the 250-year-old summer palace of the Electors of Mannheim dominates this town. Pass through the wrought-iron gates and over the shallow moat, and you've gone back in time. Manicured gardens, set off with borders of gentle blue and yellow flowers, extend into "wilderness" dotted with such features as a Moorish temple and a Roman "ruin." One wing of the palace houses the Rococo Theater, a perfect little wooden theater with three small tiers, looking and feeling...